1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the protection of computer system users. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing protection from personal identifiable information theft.
2. Description of Related Art
Malicious code on a host computer system can steal a user's personal identifiable information (PII). Examples of personal identifiable information include the user's name, account numbers, passwords, credit card numbers, social security number, bank account numbers, and/or other personal information of the user.
Often, the malicious code on the host computer system delivers the user's personal identifiable information over the Internet to a criminal. The criminal uses the personal identifiable information for the criminal's own financial gain, and at a great cost to the user and/or the institution that indemnifies the user for the loss.
To protect users from personal identifiable information theft, security applications such as anti-virus applications have been developed. These security applications typically remove the malicious code from the host computer system.
Security applications rely upon updates from security vendor update sites. These updates are an important component of the security applications. For example, as new malicious code is discovered, new virus definitions are distributed as an update to allow for the security applications to protect users from the newly discovered malicious code.
However, by the time new malicious code is discovered by security vendors and the virus definitions are distributed, a user's personal identifiable information may already have been stolen, often without the user even being aware that they were subject to a successful attack. Often, the user doesn't become aware that they were subject to a personal identifiable information theft until the user becomes a victim of identity theft.